Effect of sage (Salvia officinalis L.) extract in antioxidant status and intestinal morphology of pulmonary hypertensive chickens.

OBJECTIVES: The effects of dietary sage on the growth performance, antioxidant status, intestinal mucosa morphology, and pulmonary hypertensive response were investigated in broiler chickens with pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: Chicks (Ross 308) were reared under cold stress for 35 days and treated with 0.05% vitamin C (positive control) and 0 (control), 0.1 or 0.2% sage extracts, then performance, oxidant and antioxidant status, and intestinal morphology were evaluated. RESULTS: The index of pulmonary hypertension (RV:TV) was decreased, and weight gain (days 22-35) was increased in all treatments (except for sage 0.1%) compared with control (P < 0.05). Lipid peroxidation was decreased, whereas the activity of antioxidant enzymes (GPX, CAT, and SOD) was increased in the sage 0.2% group compared with control (P < 0.05). In the lung, SOD, CAT, and GPX transcripts were decreased in the sage 0.2% group compared with control (P < 0.05). In the right ventricle of the heart, SOD and CAT transcripts were increased in the sage 0.2% group compared with other groups of chickens, whereas GPX transcript was decreased (P < 0.05). The jejunal villus length in the chickens fed sage was significantly lower than in control (P < 0.05). The ileal villus width, villus surface area, and lamina proporia thickness in the chickens fed sage (0.2%) were increased compared with control (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Dietary supplementation of sage (0.2%) could modulate pulmonary hypertensive response, improve antioxidant status (enzymatic activity), intestinal morphometry, and absorptive surface in the broiler chickens.

First Record of Black Widow Spider Bite Latrodectus cinctus (Araneae: Theridiidae) From Iran.

The genus Latrodectus contains the most medically important spiders around the world. This study describes the first case of Latrodectus cinctus Blackwall, 1865 bite and clinical treatment from Iran. Also, it is the first collection report from the southeast of the country that can enhance prior knowledge on the geographical distribution of this species. We describe a 42-year-old female patient with neurological pain caused by the spider bite. Also, a summary of the entomological survey and morphological identification of the collected species from the patient's house is presented.

Gene Panel Testing in Hereditary Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is a highly complex, heterogeneous and multifactorial disease and is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women worldwide. Family history and genetic mutations are important risk factors for BC. While studies in twins have estimated that about 10%-30% of BC are due to hereditary factors, only 4%-5% of them are due to mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Our aim was to investigate the role of other BC genes in familial BC among the Iranian population. METHODS: We selected 61 BC patients who were wild-type for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations but who met the criteria for hereditary BC based on the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. We performed targeted sequencing covering the exons of 130 known cancer susceptibility genes based on the Cancer Gene Census list. RESULTS: We found seven mutations in seven known BC susceptibility genes (RAD50, PTEN, TP53, POLH, DKC1, WRN and CHEK2) in seven patients including two pathogenic frameshift variants in RAD50 and WRN genes, four pathogenic missense variants in TP53, PTEN, POLH, and DKC1 genes and a pathogenic splice donor variant in the CHEK2 gene. The presence of all these variants was confirmed by Sanger sequencing and Gap reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the splice variant. In silico analysis of all of these variants predicted them to be pathogenic. CONCLUSION: Panel testing of BC patients who met the established criteria for hereditary BC but who were negative for BRCA1/2 mutations provided additional relevant clinical information for approximately 11.5% of the families. Our findings indicate that next generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool to investigative putative mutagenic variants among patients who meet the criteria for hereditary BC, but with negative results on BRCA1/2 testing.

The accuracy of wide-field ultrasound biomicroscopy in localizing extraocular rectus muscle insertions in strabismus reoperations.

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of widefield ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) with mechanical intraoperative measurements of the distance between rectus muscle insertions and the corneal limbus in strabismus reoperations. METHODS: Subjects with a history of horizontal rectus muscle surgery who required further surgery on horizontal rectus muscle(s) were recruited prospectively. All widefield UBM measurements were carried out under topical anesthesia using a 50 MHz linear probe without immersion cup and external caliper. The insertion angle distance was measured using the caliper tool of the UBM device; the actual muscle insertion distance from the limbus was considered to be the measured distance plus 1 mm. The distance from muscle insertion to the limbus was also measured intraoperatively. The results of UBM and surgical measurements were compared. RESULTS: A total of 28 subjects were recruited, and 53 horizontal muscles (30 medial rectus, and 23 lateral rectus muscles) were included. The longest distance of the muscle insertion from limbus detectable on UBM was 13 mm for the medial rectus muscle and 15 mm for the lateral rectus muscle. In 38 muscles (71.7%) UBM and surgical measurements were within 1 mm of each other. Only in 1 muscle (1.9%) was the difference between measurements >2 mm (2.3 mm). The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.87, demonstrating excellent agreement between measurements. Limit of agreement analysis demonstrated better agreement between measurements of medial rectus muscles and in consecutive exotropia cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated good agreement between intraoperative and widefield UBM measurements of the muscle insertion-limbus distance in our patient cohort.

Ecologic study of serum selenium and upper gastrointestinal cancers in Iran.

AIM: Both observational and experimental studies have shown that higher selenium status reduces the risk of upper gastrointestinal cancers in selenium deficient populations. Recent cancer registry data have shown very different rates of esophageal cancer (EC) and gastric cancer (GC) in four Provinces of Iran, namely Ardabil, Mazandaran, Golestan, and Kerman. The aim of this study was to have a preliminary assessment of the hypothesis that high rates of EC in Golestan and high rates of GC in Ardabil may be partly attributable to selenium deficiency. METHODS: We measured serum selenium in 300 healthy adults from Ardabil (n = 100), Mazandaran (n = 50), Golestan (n = 100), and Kerman (n = 50), using inductively coupled plasma, with dynamic reaction cell, mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-MS) at the US Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta, Georgia). RESULTS: The median serum selenium concentrations were very different in the four Provinces. The medians (IQR) for selenium in Ardabil, Mazandarn, Golestan, and Kerman were 82 (75-94), 123 (111-132), 155 (141-173), and 119 (110-128) microg/L, respectively (P<0.001). The results of linear regression showed that the Province variable, by itself, explained 76% of the variance in log selenium (r2 = 0.76). The proportion of the populations with a serum selenium more than 90 microg/L (the concentration at which serum selenoproteins are saturated) was 100% in Golestan, Kerman, and Mazandaran but only 29% in Ardabil. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that selenium deficiency is not a major contributor to the high incidence of EC seen in northeastern Iran, but it may play a role in the high incidence of GC in Ardabil Province.